Servos and closed loop systems are almost mandatory on large commercial mills due to the sheer scale and mass involved, but they’re not as mandatory on the hobby level.
In practice, hobby level machines don’t have near enough rigidity or spindle power to warrant high movement forces in the first place.
Nearly all of the hobby CNC machines on the market use open-loop steppers. They’re definitely not losing steps during normal operation.
The topic of steppers vs servos has been covered over and over on every hobby CNC forum for the past two decades. Closed loop systems are great if someone has extra budget to spare, but they’re unnecessary for machines using hobby-level spindle power.
In practice, hobby level machines don’t have near enough rigidity or spindle power to warrant high movement forces in the first place.
Nearly all of the hobby CNC machines on the market use open-loop steppers. They’re definitely not losing steps during normal operation.
The topic of steppers vs servos has been covered over and over on every hobby CNC forum for the past two decades. Closed loop systems are great if someone has extra budget to spare, but they’re unnecessary for machines using hobby-level spindle power.